With Halloween right around the corner, many Aliso Niguel students are beginning to plan for their costumes and coordinate outfits with friends.
As the first significant holiday of the school year, Halloween offers students a break from academic stress and a chance to express themselves through humor, creativity and pop culture references. Many students are eager to be able to dress up in both unique and familiar looks.
Based on past years, certain costumes are consistently popular. For girls, a deer is always a favored choice, especially if she’s in a duo costume, then her partner can be a hunter. Another classic pairing seen for girls is the devil and angel combination, which lets friends appear as opposites but still correlated.
Simpler costumes are also always popular. The skeleton costume remains a go-to, as the makeup is quick to apply and the costume itself is easy to assemble. For boys, a superhero costume is also rather straightforward, with the most commonly seen ones being Batman and Spiderman.
Many students are choosing to coordinate their costumes with friends and do group or duo costumes as well as solo ones. These types of costumes are fun because they make photos look cohesive, and they can build a sense of Halloween spirit and friendship amongst peers.
Aliso Niguel Junior Eve Meyers (11) says, “My friend group is doing Disney princesses, so I’m going as Rapunzel for the night, we thought it would be fun and cute to all match together. It’s one of those costumes that just feels so nostalgic.”
Alongside this, Poppy Crowther-Townsend (12) said her friend group is going a bit outside the box for their costume this year.
Crowther-Townsend (12) says, “Some of my friend group is going as Beanie Babies which I’ve personally never seen before, we’re even making the heart-shaped tags ourselves.”
The characters from “Alice in Wonderland” also seem to be a recurring group costume, most popular in friend groups of five to seven. The Scooby-Doo Gang is also a crowd favorite, particularly because it works perfectly with groups of four to five people. Both of these group costumes are likely to be seen this year because of their easy recognition.
Costumes can be a fun way of expressing oneself because Halloween is the one night a year anyone can dress as anything. Costumes are loved by students because everybody can get their costume reference instantly, which makes dressing up entertaining and inclusive for everybody.
This year, one unexpected trend is gaining momentum, which is that of Labubu costumes. The line of collectible designer toys has exploded on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, making a name for itself globally from Hong Kong. According to Google Frightgeist data, “Labubus” is dominating costume search trends, suggesting that they’ll be commonly sighted this Halloween.
Continuing from last year, costumes from the “Wicked: Part One” movie are likely to show up on Halloween night. Although the movie came out on Nov. 22, 2024, the second part of the movie is coming out on Nov. 21 of this year, so the hype should last through Halloween, making it a relevant costume trend.
Whether dressing as a traditional character, a viral trend or a definitive spooky season costume, Aliso Niguel’s students are ready to celebrate their Halloween in style. This year’s costumes promise to be a colorful mix of creative and classic.
